TRIBALISM 235amount to the kidnappers. The system is based on trust and works remark-
ably well.
After AQI received the funds, one of Omar’s captors gave him five
thousand Iraqi dinars (about five dollars) and drove him to a prominent
Mosul mosque, where he was transferred to the custody of an “honest
broker” sheik. After depositing Omar at the mosque, the captor who had
given him the money told Omar to give it back, as payment for the ride.
A former Iraqi military officer, who had been kidnapped and ransomed
himself in the past in Baghdad and whom Omar had driven home, dem-
onstrated his gratitude by risking his life again by retrieving Omar from the
mosque and driving him back to Baghdad.
After holding him for eight days, the terrorists kept their word and
released Omar. The entire Babylon Inc. family breathed a collective sigh
of relief.
During a recent trip to Baghdad, I sat down with Omar for several hours
over dinner and asked if he would not mind recounting his ordeal with me
one more time. I wanted to make sure I had all of the facts straight in my
mind. He agreed to submit to my gentle interview, although even twelve
years after the fact, it was clear Omar was still suffering the effects of the
terrifying experience. He stopped talking and teared up many times while
relating to me the details of his capture and detention.
Omar said that after he was caught on the street, he was brought in
the trunk of a car to a “normal” house, occupied by a family. He was
blindfolded and hog-tied, his hands and feet chained to each other and
to the wall, underneath a stairway. The chains were too tight, and his
hands swelled up. A hot light bulb shone directly above him, heating up
the chains, which then burned his skin. When after three days his captors
finally brought him some water, he used most of it to cool his skin. Omar
had no food for the first four days, and one small meal per day after that.
He was held with three other hostages at a time. Omar said that over the
course of a week, his AQI captors would routinely take two hostages out
and bring two new ones in. They appeared to be running a very successful
kidnap and ransom business with high “inventory” turnover. Omar was